The John Duncan campaign office was notified that there is an individual calling the public seeking donations for the John Duncan campaign and soliciting money for campaign signage.

This individual is saying that they can only accept cash or credit card, no personal cheques.

“This individual is not associated with, or a member of the John Duncan Campaign team,” Michelle Yao, director of communications for the John Duncan campaign. “We find this completely unacceptable. As soon as we heard about this we notified the RCMP. The authorities are looking into this matter.

“We want to ensure that the public is aware of this fraudulent activity and that no one is taken advantage of.”

If you have any information regarding this issue contact the local RCMP 250-286-6221.

Liberal sign woes

A Mike Holland Liberal campaign sign found burnt to embers April 7 isn’t an attack on one campaign or candidate, but on all candidates and the democratic system itself, says Holland, the Liberal candidate for Vancouver Island North.

A Liberal campaign volunteer was repairing and installing campaign signs when he found the charred remains of what had been a Holland campaign sign near the corner of Hamm Road and the Old Island Highway, between Courtenay and Black Creek.

“These kinds of attacks have no place in a country such as Canada, where we welcome and encourage free, open and civil debate on the important issues facing the nation,” says Holland. “I’m confident that my fellow candidates in Vancouver Island North will join me in condemning this this kind of behaviour.”

Family farms vital for a smart economy

A healthy agricultural sector is a key element of a smarter economy, according to the Green Party of Canada’s platform.

Local Green Party candidate Sue Moen called for a new Canadian agriculture policy emphasizing organic, local food production.

Greens are also advocating a move away from subsidizing costly agro-chemicals, industrial food production and genetically modified (GMO) crops. The Green Party would cut all federal biotech funding to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and 10 per cent of funding (the amount going to GMO biotech) from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the National Research Council (NRC).

“Here in Vancouver Island North, agriculture and agri-business play a key role in our local economy and community. If we are to preserve that, we need a government with a fresh, sustainable vision for our agriculture sector. A Green vision,” said Moen. “We must change our farm support payments to reward smaller and family farmers for staying on the land and allow new farmers access to land.

“Value-added processing including local abattoirs, canning and freezing facilities, greenhouses using renewable energy, among other initiatives, responsible waste management, and support for worker and producer cooperatives are essential to increase local food self-sufficiency.”

Leonard: Be clear on the oil tanker ban

On the one-year anniversary of the oil spill disaster in the Gulf Coast, Vancouver Island North NDP candidate Ronna-Rae Leonard is calling on Conservative John Duncan to be clear about his position on a ban on oil tankers along B.C.’s north coast.

“At an all candidates’ meeting last week in Port McNeill, Duncan indicated that he agreed with all the other candidates that we should ban oil tankers along our north coast,” said Leonard. “But in a column printed in one of our northern papers on the same day, he said something very different.”

In the April 14, 2011 edition of the North Island Gazette, Duncan rebuffed calls for a tanker ban, writing “Our Conservative party has no plans to re-open the 1988 Exclusion Zone on tankers travelling between Alaska and Washington State.”

Duncan Conservatives also voted en masse against a New Democrat motion to support a tanker ban, Leonard said.

And on Sunday in Vancouver, Stephen Harper said that the Conservatives would refuse to legislate a tanker ban on BC’s north coast.

“Either Duncan disagrees with his leader or he misled the people of Port McNeill,” said Leonard. “Once again we see him waffling on issues.”